(The Canadian Press circulated the following article by Dirk Meissner on August 12.)
VICTORIA, B.C. — The B.C. government released almost 600 pages of documents Thursday relating to its controversial decision unload its Crown-owned railway to Montreal-based CN Rail.
About 450 pages of the 1,050-page deal, first announced last November, were blacked out due to commercial privacy and personal privacy issues, Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon said. The Liberal government said the deal will spark an economical revival in the province’s north, but it’s been tainted by an ongoing police investigation and intense political battles over broken election promises.
Premier Gordon Campbell promised voters during the May 2001 provincial election a Liberal government would not privatize or sell B.C. Rail.
Falcon said the government has kept its word even though sections of the documents released Thursday that refer to the purchase and sale agreement.
The government is not selling BC Rail, because the rail bed, tracks and rights-of-way remain in public hands, he said.
“It is not a sale,” said Falcon.
The deal is broken into two parts, a transaction and lease agreement, he said.
CN will buy shares and BC Rail’s rolling stock as part of the transaction agreement, but the lease agreement maintains public ownership of the rail property, Falcon said.
“They acquire the right to operate the railway and we maintain public ownership through the revitalization agreement of the rail bed rights-of-way and we lease them the right to operate on that rail bed.”
The opposition New Democrats said the government admitted the deal is a sale after denying for months it was not a sale.
“What is clear is that right at the beginning of the transaction agreement it says the government is selling the shares in BC Rail, a word the Liberal government and the premier refuse to acknowledge,” NDP MLA Jenny Kwan said.
Falcon said earlier the deal was a lengthy political battle but one that will pay dividends for British Columbia.
The government will use the $1 billion to pay off an estimated $500 million BC Rail debt and at least $170 million of the remaining money to spur investment in the province’s north, he said.
The projects include a northern development initiative to fund economic and tourism projects, expansion of Prince Rupert’s port facilities and programs for First Nations.
The federal Competition Bureau granted final approval for the deal earlier this month.
CN Rail and the B.C. government announced a partnership last year that would see the company take over the freight operations of BC Rail under a renewable 60-year lease.
Opponents said the deal will lead to job losses for British Columbians and tough times ahead for small northern communities.
Falcon said CN may cut jobs in the acquisition, but insisted the agreement will result in increased business for the north and more jobs.
The 1,577 kilometre BC Rail main line runs from North Vancouver to Fort Nelson, including the resource-rich northern community of Tumbler Ridge.
Falcon maintained that the CN deal was clean despite ongoing police investigations and previous complaints about unfair treatment by failed bidders.
He cancelled the bidding process for a railway spur line at Roberts Bank near Vancouver after the RCMP said it was part of an ongoing investigation last spring.
Last December, the RCMP raided offices at the legislature as part of an long-term drug and money-laundering probe.
The chief aide to Finance Minister Gary Collins was fired and an assistant to former transportation minister Judith Reid was suspended with pay.
No charges have been laid so far.
Police said their investigation does not involve any elected officials.